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What Is Mother Culture®?

What Is Mother Culture®?

by Karen Andreola

Mothers should cultivate their souls so that in turnthey may cultivate the souls of their children.*1

I remember scribbling this quote into a notebook. I was a young
mother then. (Today, I’m a grandmother.) Are you a hard-working home-teacher
that could use some encouragement? Welcome to the invigorating ideas of Mother
Culture.

Obscure Term Brought
to Light

The term “Mother Culture” isn’t found in any of Charlotte
Mason’s writings. It is an obscure term I unearthed in the 1990s from her Parents’ Review, developed and made popular. I
introduced the idea first in my own magazine in 1993 and in others. Then I expanded upon it in my purple book,
A Charlotte Mason Companion. The tiny (R) next to it means I registered it as trademark for my business/ministry.

Children are born persons.

Miss Mason’s educational premise is a good place to start,
because “persons” applies to everyone. For a Christian mother to keep growing
into the person God is designing her
to be, she devotes herself to the Master. She keeps in His Word. Her highest
aim is to give God glory in all she does.*2

Fathers and mothers are given the
task to feed God’s lambs,*3 that the children on loan to them would grow in
wisdom. Meanwhile, a mother does not neglect to cultivate her own soul. She feeds her children. And she
feeds herself.

Direction

As a new home teacher, I craved direction. Hardly a willing
older-woman-in-the-Lord could be found, in person. This might be your
situation, too. You also might be the first Christian in your family tree.

And yet;
who God calls, He also equips. I’m grateful He didn’t launch me onto an
un-charted sea. Pondering Charlotte Mason’s Christian wisdom in her pink volumes
(books my husband and I published for 20 years) supplied me with time-honored, tried-n’-true
ideas.

My concept of Mother Culture began to take shape. I started associating
Miss Mason’s advice to it. For instance, she noticed that . . .

“. . . the old painters, however diverse their ideas in other matters, all fixed upon one quality as proper to the pattern of Mother. The Madonna, no matter out of whose canvas she looks at you, is always serene. . . . we should do well to hang our walls with the Madonnas of all the early Masters [of art] if the lesson, taught through the eye, would reach with calming influence to the heart.”*4

Recreation

Do you get stressed-out? It’s a big responsibility to be home-teacher.
Miss Mason says, “if mothers could learn to do for themselves, what they do for
their children . . . we would have happier households. She recommends that
mothers go out to play “. . . take a
day, or a half a day, out in the fields, or with a favorite book, or in a
picture gallery …”*5 A little recreation could mean nothing more than sitting at
a favorite window with a cup of tea, cloud-watching. Then a mother is not too
hectic or exhausted to enjoy her husband’s company.

Many Hats

A mother wears many hats. She is wife, nanny, counselor,
nurse, cook, governess, taxi-driver, laundress, etc. Dear mother, add to your hats,
a crown. Father is king. You are queen. The day your child was placed in your
arms was your coronation day. You were crowned with authority by Almighty God. A
queen rules as she serves. She thinks of her subjects before she thinks of
herself. Her subjects, in turn, honor and obey her.

A mother is frazzled when she does not rule. Wearily, she
gives into her child’s whims and wants. Yet, by training her child in the habit
of obedience, daily friction fades. Be firm but kind. Teach a child to obey. And,
happily, you can teach him anything else after that.*6 I remember, putting
hands-on-hips after having to say “No” to something. Than adding with a
smile: “The queen has spoken.” (smile)

Creative Expression

Domesticity takes on new dimensions when a mother adds
creative expression to her homemaking. I took a fancy to knitting mittens. A large
basket of Mommy’s Mittens (all sizes and colors) sat at the back door in
winter. I soon became a sentimental
knitter. Watching my children build snowmen in Mommy’s Mittens motivated me to
knit sweaters, too.

To express herself creatively a mother might try her hand to
making a Christmas wreath of pinecones and berries, at stenciling Moses-Eaten-pineapples
on the wall, sewing a rag doll and doll quilt, designing an herb garden in easy
reach of the kitchen, embroidering a pillow, making curtains, painting a
second-hand chair soldier-blue, making greeting cards, or clay pottery, etc. Her
children will look up to her, admire her handiwork and say, “How did you do
that, Mommy?”

Radiant Living

In the home where Charlotte Mason’s recommendations are
followed, beautiful music fills the air, curious, beautiful paintings are gazed
upon. Nature is observed with a sense-of-wonder. Books, both interesting and inspiring,
are savored as they are read aloud
and narrated. Children understand the Bible by reading and narrating it, too.

All the true, just, pure, lovely, praise-worthy, excellent
things to think about and appreciate, rub off on her, her husband, and her
children.*8 As a result, a spark of enthusiasm,
something hard to live without, produces radiant living.

Story

A mother feeds her mind and imagination. I remember the wave
of apprehension that followed my first thoughts of teaching high school. “Oh,
my. How on earth am I going to do this?” My own schooling was lackluster and
less-than-empowering.

But Miss Mason’s philosophy proved applicable. All our years
of narrating from well-written books had built a strong foundation for the
essay, ten-page-paper, and speech. I became familiar with (and was enriched by)
the classic literature I didn’t know existed in my public-school days.

Take a look and you’ll see that tragically, the best
literature of Western Civilization is missing in government schools. Dry “informational
texts” from the liberal New York Times
for example, mostly comprise a students’ reading material.*9 History that
recounts the thrill of risk-taking pioneering, invention, and discovery, with
its stories of patriotism and heroism, that “stir your heart with the story of
a great event,”*10 are excluded. Social studies, social issues are made the priority. By
contrast, our living books gave “story” a rightful place. It kept our
love-of-learning alive. The Lord is still blessing me with what I missed in my
girlhood.

One of my busy grandchildren.

Whistle while you
work.

Laura Ingalls Wilder said, “I always have been a busy
person, doing my own housework, helping the Man-of-the-Place . . . but I love
to work and oh, I do just love to play.”

“Hands-to-work, Hearts-to-God” is a Shaker moto I found
helpful. To cope with housework (and the messes an active home-life makes) my
children and I grew accustomed to our chores.

We worked side-by-side, often to baroque music. We learned together, worshiped together, and then played each how we
liked.

If there is such a thing as the joy-of-childhood, there is such a thing
as the joy-of-motherhood.

With Mother Culture a mother can say, “My cup runneth over.”
It runs over into the family circle. The benefits Mother Culture do not end
with herself. Eventually, it is she who becomes the generous older-woman-in-the-Lord
that she longed to know when she was a new mother.*11

(End Notes are below)

Drawn by Nigel Andreola for "Lessons at Blackberry Inn"

Mother Culture Talk Free

When writing A Charlotte Mason Companion I dedicated a chapter to Mother Culture. At conferences where I've spoken on The Gentle Art of Learning, I liked to give a talk on Mother Culture. Thousands of women thirsting for encouragement attended these talks.

This talk is now FREE on YouTube because I am near the end of my stock of CDs. Thank you for your patronage over the years.

This talk hasn't an ounce of info-mercial. I omit even a mention of my books (although writing is how I earn a living). This 38 minute talk is most pleasant to the ears of a parlor full of ladies. I'll serve the sympathy. Will you pour the tea or coffee?

Note: My son wore the back-pack (I mention in the talk) for a very short time. These kinds of penalties were rare and not my usual way of bringing-up my children.

For years I thought it selfish for mothers to take time for themselves; it seemed it would mean my family's needs would be unmet if I did anything other than go from task to task in serving them. Yet I was lonely and frustrated all those years, feeling so empty and dry. I remember sitting alone at night when the work was done, unable to even think of how I might like to spend my time. After reading your book the light finally turned on for me, and I can see how feeding my soul will actually make me more of a blessing to my family, and it doesn't have to take a lot of time. This past week at the library I picked up a poetry book and an art book that intersested me after helping my daughter find all the books she needed. Taking 20 mins to savor a poem and gaze at beautiful art has lifted my spirits more than I would have believed possible! I am happier and see I can still get my work done without being so demanding that my every waking moment be productive. Thank you so much.